Not Pretty Enough cover Shannon King

LYRICS

Am I not pretty enough?

Is my heart too broken?

Do I cry too much?

Am I too outspoken?

Don't I make you laugh?

Should I try it harder?

Why do you see right through me?

I live, I breathe

I let it rain on me

I sleep, I wake

I try hard not to break

I crave, I love

I've waited long enough

I try as hard as I can

Am I not pretty enough?

Is my heart too broken?

Do I cry too much?

Am I too outspoken?

Don't I make you laugh?

Should I try it harder?

Why do you see right through me?

I laugh, I feel

I make believe it's real

I fall, I freeze

I pray down on my knees

I hold, I stand

I take it like a man

I try as hard as I can

Am I not pretty enough?

Is my heart too broken?

Do I cry too much?

Am I too outspoken?

Don't I make you laugh?

Should I try it harder?

Why do you see right through me?

Why do you see...

Why do you see...

Why do you see right through me?

Why do you see...

Why do you see...

Why do you see right through me?

Why do you see...

Why do you see...

Why do you see right through me?

Why do you see...

Why do you see...

Why do you see right through me?

Source: Musixmatch

About Kasey Chambers: "Kasey Chambers (born 4 June 1976) is an Australian country singer-songwriter and musician born in Mount Gambier. She is the daughter of fellow musicians, Diane and Bill Chambers, and the younger sister of musician and producer, Nash Chambers. All four were members of a family country music group, Dead Ringer Band, from 1992 to 1998, with Chambers starting her solo career thereafter. Five of her twelve studio albums have reached No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Barricades & Brickwalls (September 2001), Wayward Angel (May 2004), Carnival (August 2006) Rattlin' Bones (April 2008) and Dragonfly (January 2017). In November 2018 she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and has won an additional fourteen ARIA Music Awards with nine for Best Country Album. Her autobiography, A Little Bird Told Me..., which was co-authored with music journalist, Jeff Apter, was released in 2011.

Kasey Chambers was born in 1976 in Mount Gambier, South Australia to Diane and Bill Chambers.[1][2][3] Her older brother, Nash Chambers was born in 1974.[4] From July 1976 the Chambers family travelled around the Nullarbor Plain, where the parents hunted foxes and rabbits for pelts during seven or eight months a year, spanning nine years.[5][6] During the "hot months" (generally from November to March) they returned to Southend, South Australia,[4][5] where her family owned a fish and chip shop for a time.

From 1986 Bill and Diane returned to performing as a country music duo, while their children attended school in Southend.[4] In the following year their parents added first Chambers and then Nash to their act, which became the Dead Ringer Band – named for the children looking like their parents.[1][6][7] Chambers was recorded on vocals for two albums released under Bill's name, Sea Eagle (1987) and Kindred Spirit (1991). From 1992 Dead Ringer Band released an extended play and four albums.[1][8] For their first album, Red Desert Sky (November 1993), she was named as Kasey Jo Chambers, provided vocals and wrote four of its tracks.[9][10] It was co-produced by the group with Eddie Sikorski at John Reynolds Recording Studio, Adelaide.[9][10]

Chambers met fellow country singer-songwriter, Beccy Cole, in mid-1989 in Adelaide – Cole later joined Dead Ringer Band on a tour through New South Wales before going solo.[11] Chambers later recalled, "I never really met anyone at this point in my life that was of the same generation as me – a young girl who liked country music. And funnily enough the first song that I ever wrote in my life was called 'Beccy', about Beccy. It's the worst song you've ever heard in your whole life."[11] She cited Emmylou Harris as one of her primary influences, recalling that Harris' music was frequently played by her parents, ever since she was a child.[12] The group ended as Chambers' parents divorced in the late 1990s, with Diane moving to Norfolk Island and Bill to Sydney.[8][13]

Chambers recorded her debut solo album, The Captain, on Norfolk Island during July and August 1998 with her brother Nash producing and father Bill on guitar.[1][4] United States country musicians, Buddy and Julie Miller added guitars and vocals to four tracks. The Captain was released in May 1999 via EMI Music Australia and in June 2000 in the US by Asylum Records. It peaked at No. 11 on the ARIA Albums Chart and No. 1 on the related ARIA Country Albums chart.[14] At the ARIA Music Awards of 1999 she won Best Country Album and in the following year she won Best Female Artist for its title track, which was issued in 2000.[15]

The Captain was certified double platinum for shipment of 140,000 copies by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) in 2001.[16] It reached the top 50 of the Billboard Top Country Albums in 2001.[17] She toured the US as a support act to Lucinda Williams and later supported Emmylou Harris on the Australian leg of that artist's tour. "The Captain", was played in episode 8 ("He Is Risen") of the third season of The Sopranos, in April 2001.

Chambers' second studio album, Barricades & Brickwalls, was released in September 2001 via EMI Music, which was also produced by Nash.[18] It debuted at No. 4 in the ARIA Albums Chart and peaked at No. 1 in February of the following year.[1][14] Its third single, "Not Pretty Enough" (January 2002), also peaked at No. 1 on the related ARIA Singles Chart in the same month.[1][14] The track was written by Chambers and according to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "[it's] about being ignored by commercial radio."[1] He cited her autobiography, A Little Bird Told Me (2011), "'I wrote [it] as a song about feeling invisible... it was obvious that out in the music industry there was only one path for most young women – over-sexualised and over made up. To succeed you needed to look like Britney or Shakira."[1]

She is the first Australian country music artist to have simultaneous No. 1 single and album. Subsequent singles "Million Tears" (June 2002) and "If I Were You" (October) also made the top 40.[14] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2002 she won three categories, Album of the Year, Best Female Artist and Best Country Album, for Barricades & Brickwalls.[15] It was certified seven times platinum in 2003 for shipment of at least 490,000 copies.[19] In February 2002 it was released in the US, which peaked at No. 104 on the Billboard 200, topping the related Heatseeker Chart and reaching the top 20 of their country music chart. It received "generally favorable reviews" according to aggregate site, Metacritic, with a rating of 74% from 12 critics.[20]

Australian music journalist, Ed Nimmervoll, compared it to her first album, "The musical cast remains essentially the same as The Captain with the addition of a 'rock' component via drummer Peter Luscombe and rhythm guitarist Dave Steel, and a guest appearance from 'punkabilly' band the Living End. The album also features appearances from Paul Kelly and American country's Lucinda Williams."[4] Nimmervoll cited Chambers' observation, "The last album showed my life story. That was Introducing Kasey Chambers. This one's The Many Moods of Kasey Chambers."[4]

Chambers recorded a cover version of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colours" (April 2003), which peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[1][14] It was used as the theme song for the Rugby World Cup in that year.[1] Her rendition reached No. 76 on the End of Year Top 100 Singles for 2003,[21] and was certified as a gold record for shipment of 35,000.[22] At the APRA Music Awards of 2003 Chambers won three categories with "Not Pretty Enough" named as Song of the Year, Most Performed Australian Work and Most Performed Country Work.[23]

Chambers at the Royal Theatre, Canberra, November 2006

She released her third solo album, Wayward Angel, in May 2004, which debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained at the top position for five weeks.[1][14] It was accredited triple platinum for shipment of 210,000 copies by the end of the following year.[24] AllMusic's Mark Deming felt, "[it] is perhaps a bit less striking than her first two sets, The Captain and Barricades & Brickwalls, if only because she staked out her style on those sessions, and here she's harvesting from the ground she broke earlier on. But this also sounds like her most accomplished effort to date."[25]

Singles from the album include "Hollywood" (August 2004), "Pony" (January 2005) and "Saturated" (May).[1] Following the Boxing Day Tsunami (26 December 2004), Chambers appeared at the Wave Aid charity concert in Sydney in January 2005, to help raise funds for organisations in disaster affected areas.[26] At the ARIA Music Awards of 2004 she won both Best Female Artist and Best Country Album for Wayward Angel.[15]

Chambers's fourth studio album, Carnival (August 2006), also debuted at No. 1.[1][14] Deming found, "[it] is roots-friendly enough that it isn't likely to seriously alienate most of her fans, this album does represent a clear and decisive break from the country-influenced approach of her earlier music; most of these 12 songs are easygoing but satisfying roots rock with a bluesy undertone... As a songwriter, she keeps getting better at writing about the stuff of everyday lives (love, lust, disappointment, getting on with life) with an uncommon degree of horse sense and attention to detail, and if anything, the new musical backdrops have added to the depth of her emotional landscapes."[27] Its lead single, "Nothing at All" (July), reached the top ten.[14]" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasey_Chambers).